The awards were launched at the 2016 Booksellers Association conference with the aim of being the first literary awards voted for by the public. A shortlist of books are voted for by bookshops who are members of the Booksellers Association, and the winner of each category is chosen by an online public vote, with over 40,000 people voting in the 2017 awards.[2] The ceremony takes place in November in Foyles bookshop in London.
Awards are presented in the categories of Novel, Popular Fiction, Non-Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Breakthrough Author, Beautiful Book[3] and Readers' Choice. In 2016, the categories of Novel and Popular Fiction were combined, the categories of Middle Grade and Young Adult were combined and there was an additional award for Biography & Autobiography.[4]
| Year | Category | Nominee | Winner | | 2016 | Fiction | Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter | Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter |
| The Green Road by Anne Enright |
| The Muse by Jessie Burton |
| This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell |
| The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon |
| Non-Fiction | Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig | Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig |
| SPQR by Mary Beard |
| Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane |
| The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan |
| When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi |
| It's All in Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan |
| Biography & Autobiography | The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson | The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson |
| Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham |
| The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink |
| The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf |
| At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell |
| Alive Alive Oh! by Diana Athill |
| Children's | The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie | The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie |
| One by Sarah Crossan |
| The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness |
| The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers |
| The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield |
| Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard |
| Breakthrough Author | Joanna Cannon | Joanna Cannon |
| Abi Elphinstone |
| Amy Liptrot |
| Andrew Michael Hurley |
| Han Kang |
| Kit de Waal |
| Lisa McInerney |
| Rowan Hisayo Buchanan |
| Beautiful Book | The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry | The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry |
| Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop |
| Golden Hill by Francis Spufford |
| Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood |
| Herbarium by Caz Hildebrand |
| Readers Choice | The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla |
| 2017 | Popular Fiction | Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman | How to Stop Time by Matt Haig |
| How to Stop Time by Matt Haig |
| Munich by Robert Harris |
| The Dry by Jane Harper |
| The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan |
| The Power by Naomi Alderman |
| Novel | Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore | The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead |
| Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney |
| Hot Milk by Deborah Levy |
| Swing Time by Zadie Smith |
| The End We Start From by Megan Hunter |
| The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead |
| Non-Fiction | East West Street by Philippe Sands | This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay |
| Scribbles in the Margins by Daniel Gray |
| The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrère |
| This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay |
| Travels with my Sketchbook by Chris Riddell |
| Why I'm no Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge |
| Middle Grade | Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll | Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll |
| Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl |
| Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell |
| The Explorer by Katherine Rundell |
| The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stephens and Siobhan Dowd |
| Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans |
| Young Adult | Ink by Alice Broadway | The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas |
| Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais |
| Release by Patrick Ness |
| The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas |
| Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls |
| Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird |
| Breakthrough Author | Abir Mukherjee | Kate Tempest |
| Kate Tempest |
| Édouard Louis |
| Mary Paulson-Ellis |
| Fiona Mozley |
| Harriet Cummings |
| Beautiful Book | As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Alex Preston and Neil Gower | Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris |
| The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley |
| Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi |
| Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris |
| Ravilious & Co by Andy Friend |
| Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan |
| Readers Choice | This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay |
1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bamb-readers-awards-launch-year-391786|title=BAMB Readers Awards to launch this year {{!}} The Bookseller|website=www.thebookseller.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-06}}
2. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/21/doctors-diary-this-is-going-to-hurt-wins-public-vote-for-book-of-the-year|title=Doctor's diary This is Going to Hurt wins public vote for book of the year|last=|first=|date=2017-11-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-11-22|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=|issn=0261-3077}}
3. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/10/most-beautiful-books-of-2017|title=The most beautiful books of 2017|last=|first=|date=|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-11-12|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
4. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk/media/news/2016/october/8-penguin-random-house-nods-for-the-books-are-my-bag-readers-awa/|title=8 Penguin Random House nods for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards|website=www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-11-06}}